High school basketball: Falcons toe line to beat Colonials

November 26, 2009|By SCOTT DAVIDSON Tribune Staff Writer

WALKERTON — The free throw line was worth an awful lot to Glenn Wednesday night. The Falcons were fine at the line in posting a hard-fought 72-67 season-opening high school boys basketball victory over Clay. Andrew Alexander netted a game-high 19 points to lead Glenn, Jake Kosinski tallied 14 and Lonnie Shetler added 10. Kameron Stevens and Jurod Wooden each scored 13 and Alex Bauters added 10 for Clay. The Falcons feasted from the charity stripe, going 25-of-35 in the win, including 15-of-18 in the fourth quarter. Clay, conversely, hit 1-of-2 free throws. That pair came by Stevens with 16.1 seconds to play in the game. “From my perspective, our kids were aggressive and got to the line,’’ said Glenn coach Travis Hannah. “They had to foul a lot in the fourth quarter and we stepped up and hit them.’’ The deep Falcons, who returned 11 players from last year’s 11-11 squad, were tough down the stretch. Clay rallied within 58-56 with 5:24 to play, but Glenn answered with a 6-0 run as Clay went scoreless for a 4:32 stretch. Brock Solmos and Trey Rhodes each hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final period, while Josh Anderson was 3-of-3. “To pull this one out bodes well for us,’’ Hannah said. “We knew they would make a run and we fought back and didn’t let them take the lead. We have unselfish kids who share the ball. We were efficient tonight offensively and didn’t mind letting them shoot quickly.’’ Clay, which never led, made nine more field goals than the Falcons. The Colonials, who hoisted 31 more field goal attempts than Glenn, rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit. Clay used a 15-2 run, sparked by Adrian Easton, to tie the game for the only time at 47-47 late in the third quarter. Shetler then hit a huge trey to put Glenn back in front for good. The Colonials trailed 9-0 to start and were down 17-8 after the opening period as they committed eight turnovers. Glenn led 38-32 at half-time as Alexander had 16. The hosts used 10 players in the game’s opening four minutes. Clay coach Joe Huppenthal saw a lot to like from his young team. The Colonials lost four starters from last year’s 18-7 sectional champion squad. “I’m extremely happy with the energy and emotion we played with,’’ said Huppenthal. “I love the way we fought tonight. Am I happy we got beat? No. But good stuff will happen if we play this hard every night. “We’re a work in progress with our lack of game experience. Credit Glenn. They are a veteran team. That lull in the fourth quarter hurt us, but we battled until the end and kept it close.’’ Clay plays at LaPorte Saturday. Glenn plays at Riley Dec. 1. GLENN 72, CLAY 67 At Walkerton CLAY (67): Alex Bauters 4 0-0 10, Daris Boles 3 0-0 6, Donovan Campbell 4 0-0 9, Adrian Easton 4 0-0 8, LaPhonso Ellis Jr. 2 0-0 4, Dmitri Hamilton 1 0-0 2, Sidney Staples 0 0-0 0, Kameron Stevens 6 1-2 13, Jeremy Vargo 1 0-0 2, Jurod Wooden 5 0-0 13. TOTALS: 30 1-2 67. GLENN (72): Andrew Alexander 6 7-10 19, Josh Anderson 1 3-3 5, Carsen Heim 1 0-2 2, Jordan Hesters 0 2-2 2, Josh Horvath 0 2-4 2, Jake Kosinski 7 0-2 14, Andrew Morton 1 0-0 3, Trey Rhodes 0 6-6 6, Lonnie Shetler 3 1-2 10, Brock Solmos 2 4-4 9. TOTALS: 21 25-35 72. Clay8324967Glenn173853723-point goals: Clay 6 (Wooden 3, Bauters 2, Campbell), Glenn 5 (Shetler 3, Solmos, Morton). Shooting: Clay 30-67, Glenn 21-36. Rebounds: Clay 26 (Ellis Jr. 6), Glenn 20 (Kosinski 5). Turnovers: Clay 16, Glenn 19. Total fouls (fouled out): Clay 26 (Campbell), Glenn 13. Officials: Chris Havens, Roger Moore, Larry Nantkes. JV score: Clay 55 (Darren Taylor 10), Glenn 41 (John Stewart 12). Varsity records: Clay 0-1, Glenn 1-0.